Truth Dawns
by Chelsie Dagger
Summary: AKA 'One Million Words'. Celebrating over two years and One MILLION archived words on Fanfic! Please raise a glass of sherry or single malt and enjoy this little bit of sentimentality.


**'Truth Dawns' or 'A Million Words'…**

 **As of this posting, I will surpass 1,000,000 archived words! Since I joined just over 2 years ago, this has been a rewarding (sometimes all consuming) addition to my life. I appreciate all of you and wanted to post a bit of self-indulgent sap to commemorate this milestone.**

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Spring 1925

"Have you ever watched the dawn?" Charles Carson asked his fiancé as they sat in her office sipping their evening sherry.

"What?" Elsie Hughes asked, confused by his non sequitur. Apparently he was trying to avoid answering the question she'd just asked.

"Dawn," he repeated. "Have you ever really watched it?"

"I've seen plenty of sunrises, Mr. Carson, if that's what you mean. More than I care to admit, frankly," she noted wryly.

"Sunrises and dawns are not the same thing, Mrs. Hughes." He wisely chose not to comment on her allusion to her age. He raised the delicate crystal to his lips as the silence flowed around them. Elsie began to think he was finished with the topic, having successfully evaded her earlier inquiry. She shook her head slightly at the enigmatic man she loved.

"When I was still just a footman," Charles said after slowly savoring his sherry. "Lady Rosamund fell ill in the middle of the night. I was sent to the village to fetch the doctor."

Elsie leaned back to listen to his impromptu story with a small smile teasing her lips. Since their engagement, their evening discussions had been full of revelations. They'd known each other so well for decades, but this was new; more. She'd shared more personal stories with him in the past month than in all the time they'd worked together. It felt good to tell him tales of Becky and Argyll, but she much preferred to listen. Listening to his smooth baritone comforted her and though she would not admit it to Charles, he sometimes had a way with words.

"After I'd awakened him, the doctor rode off on his horse and left me to walk back to Downton. On my way back, I was so tired, I practically fell asleep on my feet. I tripped and dropped my lantern. The glass broke and it blew out before I could protect it.

"They'd sent me off in such a hurry I hadn't brought any matches with me. The night was too dark to continue without a light. The moon had already set and the stars were of no use except to know which direction I was walking. I moved off the road for fear someone might run me down in the darkness. I felt my way through the trees that lined the road into a clearing and sat down.

"It was pitch black. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face." Charles had a far off look in his eyes as he struggled to remember that night from long ago. "I listened to the sounds in the woods around me; the noises of all the little critters that come out at night."

"Were you afraid?" Elsie wondered.

"No," Charles shrugged. "I was a country boy and I knew there was nothing in the night that could harm me. I just sat in the clearing until I felt like I was part of the night. I watched the stars for a while. I might have fallen asleep. I have no idea.

"It would be impossible to say how long I sat there, but I slowly noticed that there were fewer stars. Where could they have gone, I wondered. It was still dark all around me. I couldn't see the trees yet, but I had to assume that the sky was lightening.

"The sounds around me changed. The hoot of the owl gave way to the twittering of starlings and robin. I began to imagine that I could make out the black outline of the tops of the trees against the black sky. Or was it real? Was my mind was seeing things or were my eyes imagining shapes in the dark?

"I covered my eyes to be sure that I was not seeing phantoms and when I opened them again, I could see more clearly. The sky was indeed lighter in the East but it was still a deep, dark blue. Only a few stars remained. Slowly, they faded and only the morning star shone low on the horizon.

"The light continued to grow so slowly it was almost imperceptible. The sky grew paler until it was royal blue with a halo of pale blue light, almost white, radiating from a point still below the horizon.

"The once clear sky now contained little groupings of clouds. The few clouds I could see over the treetops began to show signs of peach coloring around their edges.

"The higher wisps of cloud shone pure white while the lower ones moved through a kaleidoscope of color. Peach became pink. Pink became gold. Gold became the soft yellow of summer hay.

"There was sufficient light now for me to resume my journey to Downton, but I could not move. I was mesmerized.

"As I sat, paralyzed, the blue crescendoed to an icy blue; like the most perfect sky over the most perfect garden party ever given. I could see true sunlight through the gaps in the trees, but I had not yet seen the sun. The woods around me warmed and woke. A breeze stirred the leaves where birds sang of an early spring. Dapples of light danced through the thickets. I watched the shadows shorten and a patch of sunlight entered the copse behind me.

"Then…" Charles' voice broke with emotion. "Then the crown of the sun broke over the top of the trees. I impudently tried to look directly at it, but I was humbled by its brightness. I had to close my eyes. I could only sense the light behind my eyelids as I felt the rays kiss my face.

"I felt safe and loved. I was filled with awe and with a joy I could not comprehend nor contain. I wept. I blush to admit it now, but I wept.

"I've seen the sun glowing through the stained glass windows of cathedrals, but I've never seen any display of colors so holy as that sunrise. I understood in that moment that man can only imitate the natural beauty that God creates."

Charles gave a long, shuddering breath before returning the wine glass to his dry lips.

"That was a lovely story, Charles," Elsie blinked back tears. Seeing her man so overcome by emotion, she too was overcome. "But why tell me about it now?"

Charles looked at her in mild surprise. He'd thought the answer perfectly clear. "You asked me when I first fell in love with you."

"And?" Elsie asked breathlessly. She thought she understood now, but wanted to hear him say it unequivocally.

"And that's my answer. Falling in love with you was like watching that dawn. I was lost in the dark before you. I don't know when it started; it was so subtle and slow. Through most of it, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me and I was seeing things that weren't there. The world around me illuminated. My life changed slowly and stubbornly, anticipating the inevitable.

"I could not stop myself from loving you any more than I could stop the sun from rising. Not that I should wish to stop either.

"Finally, came the day when the sun broke through the clouds and the truth dawned on me; more majestic than anything I could ever imagine. You are a gift from Heaven and our love is truer and purer than any pale imitation of love found in poems or song."

He set aside his wine and hers before taking her hands confidently in his. His intense eyes bore into her, willing her to see the truth he was trying to share. Elsie held her breath. The whole of Downton seemed frozen in space.

"If I had a million words, I could never express the fullness of my love for you, Elsie. You are my sun."

"And you, Charles…" Elsie whispered as happy tears filled her eyes. "You are my world."

The End

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 **AN/ Yes, sometimes you just have to wallow in the schmaltz :)**

 **Anyway, for a million words these two lovelies have been the center of my creative world** **and I'm not done with them yet.**

 **Thank you to Julian Fellowes, Phyllis Logan and Jim Carter for creating and perfecting these characters that we love to borrow and play with.**

 **For those who love stats (like me), I've written 20 stories with 475 chapters for which you lovely people have rewarded me with over 5,700 reviews to date. Even though I've been lax of late, I have left 1,633 reviews. I've made dozens of lovely acquaintances and a handful of good friends.**

 **Thank you to all followers, reviewers, lurkers, lovers, haters and ambivalent observers. I feel blessed to have been part of this Chelsie community for two years now and I hope to continue for at least two more. [I am holding out hope for a Downton movie. If you are lurking out there Mr. Fellowes...Call Me! I've got ideas!]**

 **Thank you for the journey thus far and here's to the next Million…Chelsie On!**

 **Love, Chelsie Dagger**

 **P.S. FYI, I'm toasting to you all with a healthy glass of 18 yo Sherry Cask Glenlivet. Yes, it's from Costco, but I highly recommend it nonetheless.**


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